As a typical example of a liquid ejection head that ejects liquid, there is an inkjet recording head applied to an inkjet recording method for ejecting ink to a recording medium and performing recording. The inkjet recording head generally includes an ink flow path, an energy generating element provided at a part of the flow path, and an ejection orifice that ejects ink by energy generated by the energy generating element.
A method for manufacturing a liquid ejection head is disclosed in PTL 1. In the method, on a substrate including an energy generating element, a mold of flow path is formed using a photosensitive material and a peripheral mold member is formed around the pattern of flow path. Next, a covering layer is coated on these and an opening, which will be an ejection orifice, is formed in a position in the covering layer facing the energy generating element. Then, the mold of flow path is removed to form a space to be a flow path, so that the liquid ejection head is manufactured. According to the method of PTL 1, the peripheral mold member is provided, so that it is possible to improve coatability of the covering layer at a corner of the mold of flow path.
In the same manner as the mold of flow path, the peripheral mold member is generally removed from an opening formed in the same manner as the ejection orifice by considering heat tolerance during the head manufacturing process and ink tolerance while the head is being used. In the space (removed portion) formed by removing the peripheral mold member from the opening, an electrical circuit unit for driving the energy generating element may be disposed. Therefore, it is required that a protective member protects the electrical circuit unit in order to prevent wiring or the like from being corroded by ink.
On the other hand, when the head is used, ink mist and the like occur and the ink may attach to an ejection orifice surface (a head face) where the ejection orifice opens. The attached ink is generally wiped off by a wiping mechanism such as a wiping blade installed in a recording device. At this time, if there is no portion where liquid-repellent property is different or no concave portion on the ejection orifice surface, there is no place to store the wiped ink, so that the attached ink may not be removed from an area around the ejection orifice. The removed portion from which the peripheral mold member is removed has a function to temporarily collect the wiped ink from the ejection orifice surface. The ink collected in the removed portion is recovered by a suction restoration operation by the recording device.